Thanks for reading some of the latest features about area people and events.

Glen Froseth wins House reelection in new District

Former District 6 representative Glen Froseth of Kenmare will continue to serve constituents in District 4, after voters indicated their preferences in the November 6th General Election.

11/14/12 (Wed)

District 4 Representative Glen Froseth

By Caroline Downs

Former District 6 representative Glen Froseth of Kenmare will continue to serve constituents in District 4, after voters indicated their preferences in the November 6th General Election.

Froseth, a Republican who has served in the North Dakota House of Representatives since 1991, had to face incumbent District 4 Representatives Tom Conklin (D-NPL) and Kenton Onstad (D-NPL) in the election after the state completed the redistricting process required every 10 years.

Following the release of the 2000 U.S. Census figures, the North Dakota state legislature met in November 2011 to redraw the state’s district’s according to population. The process moved the Gooseneck area of Ward County out of District 6 and into District 4, which includes portions of Mountrail, Mercer, McLean and Dunn counties and the Fort Berthold Reservation.

Unofficial election results show that Onstad collected 3,258 votes in District 4 or 35.78 percent of the favorable ballots. Froseth received 3,065 votes for 33.66 percent, and Conklin came in third with 2,761 votes for 30.32 percent.

In Ward County, Froseth was the clear favorite, earning 1,489 votes total, more than 500 above Onstad’s total of 917. He received 555 votes at the Kenmare precinct, compared to 256 for Conklin and 244 for Onstad. At the Berthold precinct, Froseth had 345 votes, while Onstad received 184 and Conklin 164.

Froseth also received the majority votes from the South Prairie and Sawyer. He had the second highest vote total from the Makoti Precinct and the lowest total from the Ryder precinct.

Froseth received mixed results from voters in other District 4 counties. In the Mountrail County precincts, Onstad had 1,304 votes, while Conklin had 899 and Froseth 796. In the McLean County precincts, Conklin had 454 votes, with Onstad at 407 and Froseth at 342.

However, Froseth carried the Dunn County precincts with 394 votes, compared to 323 for Onstad and 301 for Conklin. Froseth also won the single District 4 precinct in Mercer County with 4 votes, while Conklin had 3 and Onstad 2.

District 4 Senate raceIn the District 4 Senate race, incumbent John Warner (D-NPL) narrowly defeated challenger Daryl Lies (R) by a margin of 3,315 to 3,010 votes. Lies was the clear favorite among Ward County voters in District 4 with 1,354 votes total compared to 884 for Warner.

Lies out-polled Warner 436-262 at the Kenmare precinct and 318-159 at the Berthold precinct. Lies also had the highest vote totals at the Ryder, Sawyer and South Prairie precincts, while at the Makoti precinct Warner earned 91 votes compared to 84 for Lies.

Statewide talliesAcross North Dakota, 324,597 ballots were cast in the General Election. The state’s voters preferred Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney over Democratic incumbent Barack Obama by a count of 187,586 to 124,490 votes, but Obama carried the popular and electoral college votes to be re-elected as U.S. President.

In one of the state’s most contested races for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the retiring Kent Conrad, Heidi Heitkamp (D-NPL) edged Rick Berg (R) by a margin of 160,752 to 157,758, or 50.25 percent to 49.31 percent. While vote tallies continued through the night after the polls closed, Berg conceded the race the morning of November 7th.

For North Dakota’s lone seat in the U.S. Congress, formerly held by Berg, Republican Kevin Cramer out-polled Democrat Pam Gulleson 172,905 to 131,396.

Among the statewide offices, several Republican incumbents were re-elected, including Governor Jack Dalrymple for his first elected term, State Auditor Bob Peterson, State Treasurer Kelly Schmidt and Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm.

With Kevin Cramer leaving the Public Service Commission to run for the U.S. Congress, candidate Randy Christmann (R) defeated Brad Crabtree (D-NPL) and Joshua Voytek (Libertarian) to fill that empty position.

In the state’s non-partisan races, voters selected Kirsten Baesler as the next Superintendent of Public Instruction over Tracy Potter. Justice Daniel Crothers was elected to another 10-year term on the State Supreme Court

Voters were asked to determine the outcome of five statewide measures on the ballot. Across North Dakota, citizens strongly favored measures eliminating the annual poll tax and requiring elected and appointed officials in the state to take an oath of office. Voters approved Measure 3 to protect modern farming and ranching practices and Measure 4 to prohibit smoking in all public places and worksites.

Voters rejected Measure 5, which would have made acts of cruelty to dogs, cats and horses a Class C felony offense.

Vote tallies for other state offices reflected the margins of the state results.

Kenmare precinct voters favored eliminating the poll tax 431-234 and requiring the oath of office for the state’s elected and appointed officials 552-118. They supported Measure 3 by a margin of 399 to 303 and Measure 4 by a margin of 419-303, and defeated Measure 5 with a vote of 595 against to only 133 in favor of the measure.

Berthold precinct voters favored eliminating the poll tax 315-151 and requiring the oath of office for the state’s elected and appointed officials 393-79. They approved Measure 3 by a margin of 318 to 166 and Measure 4 by a margin of 309 to 192. They rejected Measure 5 with a vote of 433 against to 69 in favor of the measure.

County commissionersand ballot questionsThe Ward County commissioners race ended in a close race among four of the five contestants.

Candidate Alan Walter received the most support county-wide with a tally of 14,962 votes, while incumbent Jack Nybakken was returned to his position with 13,330 votes across the county. Candidate Shelly Weppler narrowly defeated Jim Lee by a vote of 11,130 to 11,056 votes, while incumbent Bruce Christianson only received 9,432 votes.

Kenmare precinct voters showed the most support for Lee, with 413 votes. Christianson received 366 votes and Weppler 337 votes to round out the top three choices. Walter had 326 votes among Kenmare precinct voters and Nybakken received 283 votes.

Two measures received slim approval across the county. Ward County citizens approved a half-cent sales tax to be collected for the next 10 years to pay for county building and expansion projects and township road projects by a vote of 12,756 to 11,851.

Kenmare precinct voters were almost split on the issue, at a tally of 371 to 344 votes in favor of the half-cent sales tax.

Berthold precinct voters approved by measure by a broader margin at 275-221 votes.

A second county measure to raise the fee for 9-1-1 communication services from $1 to $1.50 was approved by a mere 249 votes at 12,249 to 12,000.

In Kenmare, voters defeated the measure 359 to 350. At the Berthold precinct, however, voters passed the rate increase with 256 to 232 votes.

The additional half-cent sales tax charged in Ward County and the 9-1-1 service rate increase will both take effect January 1, 2013, according to language included on the ballot.

Finally, Ward County voters showed strong support for Patrick Zeltinger, running unopposed for a supervisor’s position on the Ward County Soil Conservation District. Zeltinger received 19,180 votes.

Judicial Districtjudgeships decidedRichard Hagar was re-elected to his position for Northwest Judicial District Judgeship No. 7, with 20,403 votes in Ward County.

William McLees’s bid to continue serving in the Northwest Judicial District Judgeship No. 8 was approved with 20,456 votes in the county.

Todd Cresap was elected to an unexpired 3-year term for Northwest Judicial District Judgeship No. 9, with 20,742 votes.